ASBOLUS

The above glyph was designed by Robert von Heeren as a possible symbol for Asbolus.

Just recently named, there is a lot to study about this little body. His name comes from a Greek word meaning "soot" or "carbon dust", and probably derived from early Greece where charcoal burners were known for their black skin & face.

In mythology, Asbolus was a seer, or augur, with a reputation for accurately predicting the future. He foresaw the Centaurs' battle against the Lapiths at Pirithous' wedding, and how much of a calamity it would be for the Centaurs, but tried in vain to persuade them from fighting. And yet this Centaur is also said to have led the pack of Centaurs that rampaged toward Pholus' cave in an attempt to get the wine. And for this, Heracles is said to have crucified Asbolus with his arrows. The smell of the wine pervading the air, apparently, deadened Asbolus' abilities as a seer.

ASTRONOMY

Asbolus was discovered April 5, 1995, and was originally designated 1995 GO. It was discovered at about 7 Libra 44 R.

It takes 76.15 years to make one orbit around he Sun, and this orbit is extremely eccentric, 0.6207. It comes as close as 6.8145 AU at perihelion, and goes out as far as 29.118 AU at aphelion. This means its orbit takes it from near Jupiter out to Neptune. It's orbit is inclined to the ecliptic by 17.638 degrees!

Asbolus was last conjunct its own North Node March 3-5, 1929. It was last at perihelion...closest to the Sun...between October 30, 1925 and November 29, 1925.

ASTROLOGY

The Sabian symbol for its discovery degree is "A BLAZING FIREPLACE IN A DESERTED HOME", an interesting image considering his name means "soot" or "carbon dust." Dane Rudhyar said the keynote of this degree is "The need to realize that even through the most empty hours a spiritual power is ever ready to welcome and warm up the wayward consciousness returning to center."

Some keywords that have been attributed to Asbolus include: the light that shines in the darkness, glimpsing the future through understanding he hidden meaning of omens, being able to tap into the zeitgeist, or spirit of the times, those who have their finger on the pulse of events and trends, being blinded by mist or smoke, confusion caused by feeling disconnected from the larger picture, vision of unfolding evolutionary ideal, owning your vision and accepting the imperfections of humanity.

Phil Sedwick says "his Centaur insists that one always, always must follow their intuition. Typically real life circumstances demand their payment for failure to adhere to instinct. Leading charges against causes not worth engaging bring short circuits of life efforts and a significant loss of energy. Studying intuition and psychic development feed the protocol of Asbolus. Learning augury or reading the omens and totems of life restore Asbolus-like guidance."

How much of his nature will fit into the above myths? What can we derive by knowing that he links up Jupiter with Neptune.....the two rulers of Pisces? Or from knowing his orbit is 76.15 years? And what does he have in common with the Centaur 1999 HD12....both discovered in the 8th degree of Libra?

NOTED INDIVIDUALS

The following people have close natal Asbolus conjunctions, all less than 1 degree orb:

• Asbolus conjunct Sun
  Montgomery Clift (7' orb), Theodore Van Gogh, and Friedrich Nietzsche
• Asbolus conjunct Moon
  Ingmar Bergan and Igor Stravinsky
• Asbolus conjunct Mercury
  Paul McCartney (7' orb), James Watson.
• Asbolus conjunct Venus
  Cher (4' orb), Harrison Ford, George Orwell and Richard Strauss
• Asbolus conjunct Mars
  Fred Astaire and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (6' orb)
• Asbolus conjunct Jupiter
  Richard Burton, Anna Freud, Jack Lemmon, Melina Mercouri (8' orb) and Paul Newman ...but so do Slobodan Milosewic, Benito Mussolini and Margaret Thatcher
• Asbolus conjunct Saturn
  Joe Frazier and Mick Jagger
• Asbolus conjunct Chiron
  Agatha Christie, Max Ernst, Sergei Prokofiev
• Asbolus conjunct Uranus
  Audrey Hepburn, Benjamin Netanyahu, Linda Tripp, Stevie Wonder
• Asbolus conjunct Pluto
  Sigmund Freud (8' orb)
• Asbolus conjunct North Node
  Lloyd Bentsen, Daniel Berrigan, James Blish, Sean Connery, Betty Friedan
• Asbolus conjunct South Node
  Judy Blume, Willy Brandt
• Asbolus conjunct Ascendant
  Mel Gibson and Joseph Goebbels

Benjamin Adamah has written two interesting blogs on Asbolus: Asbolus in astrology & Asbolus Dark Visionary

Another perspective

Mark Andrew Holmes has some interesting thoughts on Asbolus at http://http://markandrewholmes.com/asbolus.html

Click here Asbolus, to find out how to discover where your Asbolus is.